design – Blue Bear Quilts

Posted on February 14, 2020April 29, 2021 by Reed — Leave a comment

Patterns Designed For Accuquilt

Over the years, we have created a number of patterns for Accuquilt. I thought it would be fun to share them all in a post. They are all available on their website as a free download. The patterns on their website may be found here: https://www.accuquilt.com/patterns.html

The first pattern that we created for Accuquilt was Hexagon Illusions and it was made by cutting larger hexagons from an ombre fabric and then cutting smaller hexagons from the same section of the fabric and rotating them 180 degrees and appliquéing them onto the larger hexagons.

Elephant Cuddles was the next pattern and it was made from Minky.

Holiday Northwoods Medley Placemats are created with a reverse appliqué technique.

Lilac Table Topper uses the die that cuts perfect 1″ finished squares.

Fall Frolic Table Runner was made with beautiful Jinny Beyers Denim fabric from RJR Fabrics.

Cleapatra’s Garden Gate featured the Cleapatra’s Fan die.

Cleopatra's Garden Gate — Cleopatra’s Garden Gate

Have you ever heard of crumb quilting? That was the technique used in Spring Medley Mug Rugs. You sew small scraps of fabric together and then apply fusible webbing before cutting out the appliqué shapes on the die. Accuquilt also supplies the embroidery files as a free download on their website.

Fun at Sea Life Medley is a great quilt pattern for showcasing your appliqué shapes.

With that same die, we also created Storm at Sea Life Medley.

Antique Americana was made using the very versatile Hattie’s Choice die. This patriotic quilt is perfect for the 4th of July, Veteran’s Day or a Quilt of Valor.

A perfect quilt for a hot summer day would be Orange Cream Soda. It features the Studio Setting Triangles dies.

A modern take on the Glorified Nine Patch block resulted in Sherbet Dreams.

Fall is Coming is a great quilt for fall which uses Kimberly Einmo’s Solidish Fabrics from Timeless Treasures Fabrics.

Love Letters also used Kimberly Einmo’s Solidish Fabrics from Timeless Treasures Fabrics. This would be a great Valentines quilt.

In the mood to create something scary? Then you might want to make the Boo! Halloween Medley Table Runner.

Boo Halloween Table Runner — Boo! Halloween Table Runner

Ahoy Mate and Let’s Go Sailing were created using the GO! Nautical Medley die and is the perfect pattern and die for all of you water lovers.

The Retro Twist Wall Hanging was made with the Starry Path die. This is the perfect wall hanging for your mid century modern home.

The Go! Yuletide Gnome Wall Hanging is a great decoration to make for the holidays. Who doesn’t love a little gnome?

Your kids will love the Deco Dino Table Runner.

Stay tuned for more fun and inspiring designs we create for Accuquilt.

Posted on December 21, 2018 by Reed — Leave a comment

Happy Holidays!

We have lots of news to share with you. We were the runner up in the Accuquilt Block Design Contest this year with our Sea Glass block. Here are pictures of the block that won this year, me saying goodbye to last year’s winning block and a pic of where my block will be displayed in the Accuquilt headquarters for the next year. Going to Nebraska for the unveiling event is always a good time and a great opportunity to explore the midwest. I met Kaye England, who brought a trunk show, and she was fabulous. I wrote a guest blog article about my trip on the QT Fabrics blog and here is a link to that article so that you can read all about my trip. https://qtfabrics.blog/2018/09/26/guest-reed-johnson-of-blue-bear-quilts/ While there, we saw the most amazing statue, called Dignity.

We designed several new patterns for Accuquilt, which are available as free downloads from their website. They are Lilac Table Topper and Fall Frolic Table Runner. We will have two new ones coming out soon called Spring Medley Mug Rugs and Cleopatra’s Garden Gate.

We designed four quilt patterns using QT Fabrics fabric. Two of the quilts, Seahorses in the Reeds and Pixie Party, were featured in the QT Fabric’s booth at Quilt Market 2018 in Houston. The other two are called Kaleidoscope, and Rhythm of the Stars. All patterns are sold through QT Fabrics and should be available at your local quilt shop soon. We will have them for sale on our website soon as well.

We taught several fun classes this fall and several of my favorites were the Triaxial Weave Pillow, the Snapshots quilt and the Jinny Beyer Sew Along Mystery Quilt. When Kaffe Fassett and Brandon Mably were giving their workshops at Happy Apple Quilts, I was able to be their assistant for a day and had a blast.

Several of our quilts are about to have their patterns published in the May/ June and July/ August issues of Love of Quilting and the July/ August issue of McCall’s Quilting magazine. I can’t show you the quilts yet, but here is a pic of a block from Momma’s Garden, which is in the May/June issue of Love of Quilting. This quilt uses a new line of batiks from McKenna Ryan called “Seed to Blossom” from Hoffman Fabrics. I love her fabric designs.

We will be hosting a quilting cruise in 2020 going to the Inside Passage of Alaska, where there will be quilt shops at every port. The cruise will depart Seattle on June 6, 2020. So if you have ever wanted to quilt while on a cruise, or travel to Alaska, or do both at the same time, this is the cruise for you. We will have lots of fun. Start saving now. Stay tune for details on how to sign up and what the quilting project will be for the cruise. It is not on their website yet, but in the meantime, if you can’t wait, the travel company is call Quilt Retreat at Sea and their number is 210-858-6399. Call Michelle and tell her that you would like to sign up for this cruise.

Whew! That was a lot of information! Thanks for reading to the bottom. We wish you a very Happy Holiday season and look forward to sharing many exciting adventures with you in 2019. Happy New Year!

Posted on August 30, 2018 by Reed — Leave a comment

Busy Summer

It has been a very busy summer, designing new quilt patterns, teaching classes, attending a Niece’s wedding, designing quilt patterns for magazine submissions and entering a contest.

We entered the Accuquilt Block Design contest again this year. They should be announcing the winners very soon. Here are a few of the blocks that I entered this year. Thank you to everyone that voted for my blocks. I appreciate it very much!

Before attending a wedding, we went to a family farm, in Northern Minnesota, and I was able to walk across the Mississippi River, in Itasca State Park. This is where the great river originates and it is very narrow and shallow, enabling you to walk across. I would not try that in New Orleans where it is deep and wide. I also saw amazing sunflower fields and llamas.

My Niece got married this August in Stillwater, Minnesota. It was beautiful wedding at a flower farm and the rehearsal dinner was on a riverboat. I also went to the Como Park Conservatory, which has amazing floral displays.

I taught a Quilt-in-a-Day class on Kylee’s Kite at Bear Patch Quilting Company in White Bear Lake Minnesota. Everyone had a great time. Several students brought in their completed tops from this year and last year.

Student's Kylee's Kite — Student’s Kylee’s Kite

Student's Bear in My Watermelon Patch — Student’s Bear in My Watermelon Patch

I can’t reveal the quilt designs for the magazines yet, or several new patterns I developed with QT Fabrics. However, I can show you the Northwoods Holiday Medley Placemats that were designed for Accuquilt and the pattern is available as a free download on their website https://www.accuquilt.com/go-northwoods-medley-holiday-placemats.html

I can also show you our latest pattern, Kaleidoscope, that was designed with QT Fabrics. This pattern is available on our website, Craftsy, and coming to a quilt shop near you soon.

It is going to be a busy fall writing patterns and making a sample quilt for QT Fabrics that will be displayed at quilt market this November, utilizing a new line of fabrics for them.

Also, Blue Bear will be teaching on a cruise in 2020. We are very excited about this and hope to be able to provide you with details soon. When it is this far out, it will give you lots of time to plan and save for a quilting cruise. We are so excited to have the opportunity to quilt and cruise with you! Stay tuned.

Posted on February 12, 2018 by Reed — Leave a comment

Learn Electric Quilt 8

Today, I participated in Electric Quilt’s Design and Discover Strip Quilt Lesson, which can be found at http://www.doyoueq.com, and designed two quilts using a vertical strip layout. The quilts were easy to design, but I would not want to rotary cut them, so I think they would be best as paper pieced blocks. The first one is called Royal Court and the second is Tumbling Hearts. What do you think of them?

During the third quarter of 2018, from May through August, at Keep Me in Stitches, I will be teaching at an event, where on the first day students will learn the basic operation of Electric Quilt 8 (EQ8) and to design a basic quilt. Then on the second day, we will use the Accuquilt Go Big Electric cutter to cut out the shapes for the quilt we designed, and then sew it together. Students will be provided a free two week trial of the EQ8 software and will be able to use the Accuquilt die and cutter, without having to purchase them first. This will be a great opportunity for students to test out EQ8 and an Accuquilt cutter. I will update this blog when the dates of the event have been determined.

Posted on January 15, 2018 by Reed — Leave a comment

Week 8- January 15, 2018- Block of the Week- Churn Dash

Block of the week is back and this week’s block is a favorite among quilters. It is the churn dash.

It originated in the early 1800’s. It is called churn dash as the outside rounded corners look like the outside of a butter churn

and the center square looks like the wooden dash that went into the center of the churn to make the butter by pounding the dash

up and down in the churn. It is a favorite among quilters as it is fairly easy, using only a square, rectangles and triangles.

It makes a beautiful quilt.

Accuquilt makes it super easy to make this block with their 9″ Churn Dash die.

The churn dash pattern has many, many different names and variations of construction, such as the Shoo Fly and Double Monkey Wrench.

Let’s take a look at how some quilters have put a modern spin on a churn dash quilt.

It could be a red and white quilt as was done by Amy Smart.

Or a blue and white as created by Material Girl Quilts

This quilt is absolutely gorgeous turned on point.

How about something big and bold like this coloring of the quilt?

You can also piece some of the shapes in the block for a modern effect, like this colorful 4-patch center and pieced rectangles in Nut by The Happy Zombie.